Few people know what war is truly comprised of. I have the luxury of several relatives who have not only been sent to but caught in war as their homelands were theatres of war. Their rich personal narratives are a true legacy.
Zio Francesco - My Nonna's eldest brother who was sent to the Soviet front during the winter of 1942 to hold the front line against Stalin's troops in Northern Ukraine. He was nearly 6 feet tall and dropped down to a skeletal 115 lbs. Several toes froze off. He had gangrene and could have died. Now, can you imagine serving a country led by someone who you knew was a dictator? But he was just a teenager doing as he was told. Zio was a quiet, gentle man and never uttered a word about the ordeal. In fact, he carried a sort of shame about it. I'll never begin to understand what he went through.
Great Uncle Gene - My Grandma's eldest brother who despite being from a one horse town in Saskatchewan never having seen much more than a creek was sent to serve as a gunner on a Naval ship. He spent the war, puking his guts up, firing on German warships and burying his crewmates as sea. He volunteered for the Navy because nobody else in his area wanted to go and they were short on men. His faith in God kept him sane and strong. The war could have made anyone bitter but Uncle Gene never said a bad word about anyone or a foul word of any kind. He's still alive and farming to this day at 89 years old yodeling and whistling like his sister did. Take Uncle Gene off his farm and he'll probably die the next day.
My Nonno and Nonna: My father's parents are from a town called Celano. It was fairly isolated in the central mountains of Italy, trouble is that it was down the road from Avezzano, the site of a secret Nazi munitions factory. Avezzano was levelled and Celano was virtually cut off from civilization. Towards the end of the war, a battalion of British Indian troops occupied the town. Several townsfolk were frightened by these dark-skinned men as they were told through propaganda that white people were superior. Mussolini had attempted to not only tell his people that they were winning the war but that Indians were, according to the enlightened Adolf Hitler, an inferior savage monkey race. Total chaos ensued. The end result of this has been fantastic to witness. I can say in all honesty that my Nonno is the least racist person I have ever met. If you don't believe me, I will take you to meet him. He will be thrilled to chat especially if you are from an unusual country like say, Laos or Bahrain. He said that WWII ended the way it did because anyone who wants to divide the human race is wrong and also against God. "God won't stand for that."
Note: My Great Uncle passed away a few months ago. He was 89 years old. He is present with the Lord in heaven where there is no war or heartache. I know my Grandma was delighted to see her big brother. :)
It said in his obituary that he served aboard the HCMS Haida which was the most heavily armed Canadian WWII era warship. It was in the more battles than any other Canadian ship and it's crew was the most highly decorated Canadian naval crew in WWII - The Haida never lost a battle.
Few people know what war is truly comprised of. I have the luxury of several relatives who have not only been sent to but caught in war as their homelands were theatres of war. Their rich personal narratives are a true legacy.
Zio Francesco - My Nonna's eldest brother who was sent to the Soviet front during the winter of 1942 to hold the front line against Stalin's troops in Northern Ukraine. He was nearly 6 feet tall and dropped down to a skeletal 115 lbs. Several toes froze off. He had gangrene and could have died. Now, can you imagine serving a country led by someone who you knew was a dictator? But he was just a teenager doing as he was told. Zio was a quiet, gentle man and never uttered a word about the ordeal. In fact, he carried a sort of shame about it. I'll never begin to understand what he went through.
My Nonno and Nonna: My father's parents are from a town called Celano. It was fairly isolated in the central mountains of Italy, trouble is that it was down the road from Avezzano, the site of a secret Nazi munitions factory. Avezzano was levelled and Celano was virtually cut off from civilization. Towards the end of the war, a battalion of British Indian troops occupied the town. Several townsfolk were frightened by these dark-skinned men as they were told through propaganda that white people were superior. Mussolini had attempted to not only tell his people that they were winning the war but that Indians were, according to the enlightened Adolf Hitler, an inferior savage monkey race. Total chaos ensued. The end result of this has been fantastic to witness. I can say in all honesty that my Nonno is the least racist person I have ever met. If you don't believe me, I will take you to meet him. He will be thrilled to chat especially if you are from an unusual country like say, Laos or Bahrain. He said that WWII ended the way it did because anyone who wants to divide the human race is wrong and also against God. "God won't stand for that."
Note: My Great Uncle passed away a few months ago. He was 89 years old. He is present with the Lord in heaven where there is no war or heartache. I know my Grandma was delighted to see her big brother. :)
It said in his obituary that he served aboard the HCMS Haida which was the most heavily armed Canadian WWII era warship. It was in the more battles than any other Canadian ship and it's crew was the most highly decorated Canadian naval crew in WWII - The Haida never lost a battle.
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